Newark politics and the shirts on kids' backs

William Perlman/The Star-LedgerThe Newark Department of Recreation distributes T-shirts for youth basketball leagues, adult swimming programs and other sports and recreation activities. Some of the shirts given out this year were emblazoned on the back with Mayor Cory Booker's name over the slogan "Here to win in 2010." My original plan for this week was to write about all the positive stuff going on in Newark: The Nets basketball team coming to play at Prudential Center; new development on the way; Mayor Cory Booker buying a house on Court Street near the Kruger-Scott mansion. That was the plan.

Then someone sent me some T-shirts. One was made for a city swim program, one for a community mentoring program, and a small, bright orange one for a children’s basketball program. They’re all paid for by the City of Newark division of recreation. Printed across the backs of the shirts:

Mayor Cory A. Booker

"Here to Win in 2010"

Making Newark’s Recreation/Cultural Affairs "The International Destination."

I’m not sure what the last two lines mean, but the first two sure read like politicking at public expense.

The shirts came off the presses a few weeks ago. This week, after recreation employees began to complain, the city halted production, just in time to keep the logo off the back of shirts meant for a Girl Scouts program, said printer Raymond Khalif. His company, JEC Specialty Advertising and Promotional Products of Newark, has the two-year, $90,000 contract to print T-shirts for the city as the orders come in.

The city says the recreation division makes up a slogan every year. "In the development and printing of this year’s slogan there was an oversight in the wording that could be interpreted as political in nature," reads a statement from Melvin Waldrop, director of the Department of Neighborhood and Recreational Services. "Once discovered by Recreation Division staff, the issue was immediately rectified and distribution of the T-shirts was immediately halted and the T-shirts that had not been distributed were immediately retrieved. The incident is also under review by the city’s inspector general."

It should be.

This is an election year in a city once famous for mixing politics into public policy. If the rearview logo was just a stupid mistake, it begs the question of who’s minding the store at City Hall.

Ignorance or arrogance? Neither is a good option. Newark has big budget problems. If it’s going to spend $90,000 on T-shirts, make an undated, timeless model so you can use the leftovers.

Khalif used to work for Donald Bradley, municipal council president under former mayor Sharpe James. Khalif also says he supports Booker’s opponent Clifford Minor. I asked Khalif if he considered telling City Hall to change the message. He said his job as a vendor is apolitical; he prints as ordered.

The new order is to replace the mayor’s name with the abbreviation for the Division of Recreation and Cultural Affairs — DORCA. That has a ring to it.

Should anyone dwell on T-shirtgate when there are other important things to consider, like a drop in the overall crime rate, or the indictment of a former deputy mayor accused of steering a demolition subcontract? A case that might implicate Booker’s former chief of staff and current campaign manager Pablo Fonseca?

The T-shirts are a matter of public money, public trust and not continuing — neither by design nor by accident — the abuses Booker ran against. If nothing else, you’d think the mayor/candidate would have made it clear to everyone on his team not to provide meat for his opponents to chew on.

As it stands, Minor and the slate of municipal council candidates running with him are demanding that Fonseca resign or get booted from Booker’s campaign. Independent Central Ward council candidate Darren Sharif wants an investigation of the demolition firm that ultimately received the contract mentioned in the indictment. The city’s response: No investigation is necessary; the demolition bid was won through competitive bidding, a process that protects the public.

Well, printer Khalif has some problems with the integrity of the bidding process. He was awarded the T-shirt contract last year through competitive bidding, then spent months trying to get city business. He showed me correspondence with city officials responsible for contracts and purchasing who kept arguing about whether Khalif had a valid contract and what it covered. Khalif said the issue was not settled until January. Then he started getting orders for the "Win in 2010" shirts. Khalif claims other work covered by his contract went to other firms.

I asked the city about that accusation. I’m still waiting for an answer.